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Insider knowledge might have been the reason Austal USA won a massive U.S. Coast Guard contract over Eastern Shipbuilding, according to Congressman Neal Dunn. 

In a letter that Dunn sent Wednesday to Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Dunn says Eastern Shipbuilding alleges a former Coast Guard commander with access to "non-public information" wrote Austal USA's proposal for the $3 billion contract it won over the Panama City shipbuilder on June 30. The letter was forwarded to The News Herald by Dunn's office.

The $3 billion contract includes the rights to ships five through 15 in the Coast Guard's 25-ship Offshore Patrol Cutter Program. Eastern was commissioned to build the first four ships in the program, three of which are under construction. 

The Panama City company also was given the rights to the first 11 cutters in 2016, but that contract was reduced to four after Hurricane Michael destroyed much of Bay County in October 2018.

"This allegation is deeply troubling," Dunn wrote in an email. "Government contracts should be awarded fairly. They should be awarded to the company that can do the best job. I'm concerned that Austal secured this contract under false pretenses, and this will ultimately hurt our national security and cost the U.S. millions of dollars."